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The recent decision by Stoke Gifford Parish Council to charge parkrun for use of Little Stoke park has attracted considerable coverage and discussion in the UK and across the world. I must declare a bias here: as Head of Participation for parkrun (albeit currently on maternity leave), having set up the junior parkrun series and as a nearby (Bristol) resident I have been closely involved in this issue since its inception.

As background, the Parish Council kindly gave permission for a parkrun to be organised at Little Stoke park; land they lease from South Gloucestershire Council. The 5k parkrun started in November 2012, and attracts 250-300 parkrunners every Saturday. In 2014, Little Stoke junior parkrun joined the family; a 2k for 4-14 year olds which takes place at 9am on a Sunday. As with all parkruns they are organised by local, unpaid volunteer teams.

In 2015 the Parish Council contacted parkrun stating their intention to charge every Little Stoke parkrunner £1 per week. They since changed their stance and on 12th April voted to charge parkrun UK, rather than individuals, for use of the park. It is unclear why this charge is being imposed. The Council’s reasons have varied; from covering the cost of maintenance to repair damage they allege is caused by parkrunners, to the fact that parkrun is an “organisation” and that all organisations must pay for …

The need to balance tri training with your career, family, house upkeep, and other obligations is common the triathlon world over: not least because of the time and energy intensive nature of the sport. As a pro I had the luxury and privilage of making my passion my career and could devoter 24 hours a day to training. As an amateur, I was – and now am – a pro juggler. Before turning professional in Feb 2007 I trained for about 20-25 hours a week, had a full time job, and squeezed in social and family time too. Granted, I didn’t have children – which adds another ball to the juggling mix. However, the thousands of age groupers that cross …

Sport means so many things to different people. A challenge, the opportunity to push yourself further, to beat your own time, to beat the times of others, to keep fit, to stay healthy, to make friends, to travel, to wear lycra, to guiltlessly eat ten bowls of cereal a day.

People often ask me why I did ironman. What is the sense in pounding the tarmac for hours on end, or peddling up and down the same hill like a gerbil on a wheel or immersing your body in chlorine just to watch a black line? The answers are hard to articulate. For me it was the restless spirit that won’t sit still, the perfectionist that strives to be the …

I’ve just got back from the World Champs in Kona. It was fantastic to watch the athletes battle it out, to achieve dreams, to celebrate success and to mentally re-live my own races on the island.

I also felt content with the fact that I wasn’t there to race. I truly mean that. I did not feel the urge to toe the line. I love the island, and I loved being there but I didn’t want to be pounding Alli Drive with one eye on my stopwatch, or heading up the Queen K for that last pre-race ride. Of course I did some “training” while I was there. I will never stop doing sport for the sheer love and joy …

After months and months of preparation, ups/downs, broken bones, healed bones, rebroken bones, blood, sweat and a fair few tears it’s so incredibly satisfying to being able to say that we actually completed the 4321 Challenge! For those who don’t know what these random digits stand for, the 4321 Challenge was basically a bonkers endurance feat concocted by four bonkers people who all happen to live in Bristol.

Attached is my response to the UK’s Parliamentary Commission on Physical Activity’s recent call for evidence on increasing participation in physical activity, with parkrun as a case study. It’s rather long, but I hope it makes for interesting reading!

This is written in response to the Department for Education’s recent guidelines on behaviour and discipline in schools, in which it states that ‘extra physical activity such as running around a playing field’ could be used as a disciplinary measure.

The health, educational and societal benefits of physical activity are known and unequivocal. School is the one place where everybody gets the opportunity to take part in physical activity and, as such, has an important role in the development of a lifelong sporting habit.

The House of Commons Education Committee, in its report “ School sport following London 2012: No more political football” recognised school sport as a driver for improved health and educational outcomes, as well as helping …

I’m not known as being a good cook (salad is my speciality), nor am I vegan/vegetarian, a raw person or intolerant of anything (except perhaps intolerance) I just like to mess around with flavours and ingredients. Sometimes successfully, but usually the experiment turns into a complete, inedible mush that you would only feed to your dustbin (= ‘trash can’ for the American reader).

I digress.

Despite the culinary incompetence for which I am famed, this mornings ‘experiment’ was rather more successful, and resulted in what I have called a “breakfast pancake pile of deliciousness”.

Bear in mind that the quantities of each ingredient are totally approximate, and that I cannot be held responsible if your version of the BPPoD doesn’t …

Happy new year to you all! Hope you celebrated in style and are looking forward to an amazing 2014, full of challenges, goals, fun and laughter.

In response to some requests on Twitter, I thought i would republish my ‘A to a Q’ I received for my column in 220 Magazine – all about body confidence ….

I am new to the Triathlon scene and what bothers me more than the actual race is the worry of not being comfortable within myself when wearing my Tri suit. This is not vanity, otherwise I’d be fussing over what colour, or what make the ‘cool’ kids on the scene are wearing. No, this is more about wanting to change my mind set …